Kingdom Come, Chapter 1
Chapter One: Just Plain Old Drama “Kelsi!” I turned around at the sound of someone calling my name. A black haired, brown eyed, chubby kid who looked to be about my age was running up to me. I smiled at the very sight of him. It was Andrew Gussia, my good friend… and second crush. It was late May 2013, and I had just come out of my social studies class. Second period had just ended. “Hey, Andrew,” I greeted him. “Talk to me.” “So, what did you get on your report?” Andrew asked. I showed him the piece of paper that had my social studies report on it, titled ‘Why the Constitution Made a Difference in American History’. At the top was a big ‘100’ in bright red marker. “Nice!” Andrew said. “I got a ninety nine.” I looked at him funny. “How’d you lose one point?” I asked. “I used the wrong ‘there’ in a few sentences,” he admitted. “How can you forget that?” I asked. “They’re, as in you are, gets an apostrophe, their, as in ‘Their toy’, gets an ‘I’, and there, as in ‘over there’, is spelled ‘t-h-e-r-e.’” “How do you remember that?” Andrew asked. “If you write a lot, like me, you never forget it,” I replied as we walked to gym together. “Did I ever tell you about the time that I used the wrong ‘there’ in a sentence and I broke down crying?” Andrew chuckled. “When was this?” “Well, only last year,” I explained as we walked out into the courtyard. The warm late May sun beat down on us. “You remember the atom and Periodic Table test we took in science last year, right?” Andrew nodded. “Well, I was studying with my dad the night before,” I said. “He was quizzing me on my notes, and then he told me that I had used the wrong ‘there’ in a sentence. I burst into tears. No joke.” Andrew laughed. “You care that much about grammar?” he asked. “Well yeah,” I said. “I’m a writer. I spend a lot of my time writing books, which I hope to have published someday. When you write a lot, grammar and spelling counts a lot. Writing is my passion, and when you find out that your grammar is wrong, it’s devastating.” Andrew nodded, listening to my every word. “Do your eyes normally glow like that?” he asked. I looked at him funny as we entered the building. “Glowing?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. “When you were talking about writing, your eyes seemed to just… light up.” “Odd,” I said. “Maybe because I’m so excited about writing.” I then stopped, my heart racing. “Since when do you look into my eyes?” “Um, I try and make eye contact when I’m talking to someone,” Andrew said a little nervously. I smiled as we entered the gym. “Sure,” I muttered. We went our separate ways as he entered the boy’s locker room and I entered the girl’s. My friend Becky (who could be my identical twin) was standing in the doorway, her arms folded, smiling at me. I looked at her. “What?” “You should ask him out!” she said. “No!” I exclaimed. “My parents would kill me, and how do you know he’ll say yes?” “Because you guys are, like, destined to be together!” Becky said excitedly. “He looked into your eyes! That never happens! You two would be, like, so cute together!” I rolled my eyes. “Becky, Becky, Becky,” I said, walking past her and opening my gym locker. A lot of people wanted Andrew and I to start dating. I told Edward Kelly, a kid in my core classes last year, and he spread the word. Now a lot of people knew of my secret crush. It was a mistake that Edward told Carly, a girl in my core classes last year. During science class one day, a boy named Pete was saying mean things to Andrew, but joking about it. “Pete, stop it!” I finally said, getting incredibly annoyed. “You’re so mean!” “How come you’re defending Andrew like that, Kelsi?” Pete asked, smiling, knowing what the real answer was. I was about to answer with a lie, because Andrew was right next to me, when Carly butted in, “Because Kelsi has a crush on Andrew.” My cheeks turned bright pink, and I felt like punching Carly across the face. I turned to my right, expecting to see Andrew looking at me funny, asking, “You have a crush on me?” But Andrew wasn’t there. He had gotten up to ask our teacher a question. I was relieved, but still a little embarrassed, and not to mention furious at Carly. I’m pretty sure that Andrew knows I like him. When I’m talking to someone about the stories going around that I like Andrew, Andrew seems to always be near. And news travels fast, especially when Edward Kelly is starting the news. I wouldn’t be surprised if he told Andrew that I like him. But even if Andrew knew, that isn’t stopping him from trying to be good friends with me. Usually, around here, when a boy or girl finds out that someone likes them, that boy or girl ignores that person for awhile, as if they feared them. I don’t really get that. But Andrew hasn’t done that. I exited the locker room, Becky smiling at me, eyeing Andrew, then back to me. I rolled my eyes at her. Becky, Becky, Becky. The period was long. Gym isn’t my best subject, and our volleyball game ended up going horrible. I can’t serve the ball, I’m afraid of getting hit with it and injured, and I don’t know when to hit it. Let’s just say that it wasn’t a good period. I went into the locker room, changed, and opened the door to the gym. When I went back into the gymnasium, I witnessed a sight that I will never forget- Pete, who’s in my gym class as well, walked up to Andrew, who was talking with Edward. Pete tapped on Andrew’s shoulder and Andrew turned around. Now, the day before, Pete had said that I should go out with Andrew. I had told him that I would, in the future, but now wasn’t the time. I was too young to have a boyfriend, only thirteen years old in the seventh grade. “Andrew,” Pete said, a smile on his face. “Something really funny happened yesterday. So, I was talking to Kelsi, and I told her that she should go out with you.” Oh God. “She said that she would,” Pete said, almost laughing. “In the future. She said that she was too young to have a boyfriend.” I wasn’t sure what appeared on Andrew’s face. It was kind of a mixture, of anger, embarrassment, and shock. Next, he said something that I have seen him say before, but not in this serious tone. Andrew looked Pete in the eye and yelled, “Shut up, Pete! I will kill you!” “Andrew!” I yelled, shocked. Andrew, Pete, and Edward looked at me. I walked up to them. “Andrew, that was the meanest thing I’ve ever heard you say!” I was sounding like a teacher who was disciplining him rather than a friend who had a crush on him. “Kelsi, really, it was a joke!” Andrew said, trying to calm me down. “Yeah Kelsi, really,” Edward added, backing Andrew up. “I don’t care, it sounded like you were serious!” I exclaimed. “I don’t know who you are, going around saying that you’ll kill people, but it’s mean, and if you keep this up…” I didn’t know what to say. “Kelsi?” Pete asked. The bell rang, signaling us to get to our next class. The four of us didn’t budge. “I’m sorry, Andrew, but I can’t,” I said, and then I just turned and walked away. I heard Pete calling, “Can’t what?” But I ignored him and continued walking. Because I don’t know what I can’t. Why did Andrew do that? Is it because he likes me back, and didn’t know what to say? Is it because he likes me, but doesn’t want Pete to have anything to do with our soon to be romance? It is it because he doesn’t like me? All these emotions were running through my mind- anger, sorrow, embarrassment, and love. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to be with Andrew more than ever at this moment. ‘What’s going on?’ I thought as I walked into period six: Italian. During Italian I drew. I drew couples kissing, people crying, puddles of tears… All of my emotions came out into my drawing. “Kelsi, the last time I checked, this was not art class, it was Italian,” I heard a voice say. I looked up and saw Signora Greene’s angry face looking down at me. I shoved the picture into my binder. “Um, I apologize, Signora Greene,” I said embarrassedly. She gave me a look. “I hope you are,” Mrs. Greene said. She then continued to teach the class… I couldn’t wait to press my thumb to that blood red jewel and enter the animal dimension. I needed to find a way to get away from all this drama. Today, the fall into the world didn’t seem as hard, and my muscles didn’t feel as sore from the fall. Trinity and Nicole came right next to me. We walked into the Jade Palace, and I walked right past the training hall, expecting to see all of the warriors training, fighting on the course, improving their Kung-Fu skills. Not to our surprise, the training hall was full of warriors. I wished to train right then, but Nicole, Trinity, and I had to change into training clothes- loose, Chinese style clothes that were thin, and easy to move around in. We wore jean-shorts with sandals and matching t-shirts. Trinity’s was jade green, Nicole’s was a sky blue, and mine was a blood red, the same colors as our jewels. I think that those are pretty much our signature colors now, since we seem to wear them a lot, and they’re the colors of the jewels on our necklaces. We walked into the training hall, and we noticed that everyone was outside in the sparring arena. We saw the furious five and Po, lined up in front of Shifu. “What’s going on?” Nicole whispered to be anxiously. I shrugged. Shifu looked at us coming out. “Humans, you’re late,” he scolded. “Since when was there a time to be here?” I asked. Shifu gave me a look. “I mean, um, we apologize, Master Shifu,” I corrected myself, as the Dragon Sisters and I bowed. “In line,” Shifu said to us. We ran into line, and stood still as he walked up and down the line. “Um, master?” Nicole asked. “What exactly are we doing in a line?” Shifu ignored her and continued to pace back and forth, looking up at us. Finally, he said, “Master Crane, Master Nicole, you two will be sparring today,” he said. I gulped. Sparring. We humans had never sparred with the masters before, (unless you count fighting with Po over the last dumpling in the middle of the dining room a sparring match) so this was a first for us. And I didn’t know if Nicole versus Crane would be fair. I mean, Crane can fly around and attack from above. Nicole isn’t that strong when it comes to deflecting aerial attacks. The two went into the arena and we all sat on the bench. I saw a worried look in Trinity’s eyes. I understood. If my younger brother, Lance, was in his first sparring match, I would be concerned about him… Wait, no I wouldn’t! “You know the rules,” Shifu said, holding a gong. “The first one to fall to the floor and stay there for three seconds wins. Ready… set…” Shifu rang the gong and the match began. The two began punching and kicking. Nicole blocked all of Crane’s hits, and Crane blocked almost all her hits. I started to feel hope that Nicole would win, when all of a sudden, Crane spread his wings and flew upwards. Nicole looked up at him, gulping. I sighed. “No no no no no,” I muttered, tense. Crane swooped down and hit from above. Nicole didn’t block it in time and was hit in the face. She fell to the floor, only for a second. “Ow!” Nicole exclaimed, rubbing her face as she got up. This happened a second time. When Nicole got up after two seconds, she looked up at Crane circling her like a hawk, and Nicole looked like she got an idea. This time, when Crane came at her, Nicole, as quick as a snake, grabbed his wings and pulled him to the ground. Crane hit the ground hard. Crane stayed there, rubbing his head. “One… two…. Three!” Shifu exclaimed. “Good, human. You have improved greatly.” “Thank you, Master Shifu,” Nicole said respectfully, bowing to her master. “As for you, Crane, you did well,” Shifu said to Crane. “Next time, think of what your opponent can do to you while you’re in flight.” “Yes, master,” Crane replied, bowing. I smiled, Trinity cheered. “Go, little sis!” she exclaimed. We all gave her a look. Trinity blushed a little, and sat down. I couldn’t blame her. I wanted to cheer as well. Nicole has grown a lot as a warrior over the past month and a half, and so have Trinity and I.